Better Times
by Aquamarine1212
Summary: "Was she destined to lose everyone she cared about? She had lost her father three times now, her mother was gone, and now her best friend." One-shot. Takes place after Season 2 Finale.


**One-shot because Irma was so awesome and I was just super pissed when she turned out being a fake. I mean, seriously, find me one person that saw that coming and I'll find you a liar. And it made things worse when April DIDN'T EVEN FREAKING REACT AT ALL. I mean come on, are you serious?! Not even a little sad that your best friend for the past few years turned out to be a lie?! Ug. Well, here you go. And yes I made up all those scenes with Irma and April. I hope I did alright. Read and review!**

**I do not own TMNT.**

April fingered the glasses in her hands, staring down at the black frames and the jewel studded tips. They were large, statement glasses, the type that only people with confidence wore. April felt her stomach twist. A bump in the road shook the van and the glasses slipped out of her grip, landing on the floor of the vehicle.

...

_April silently sighed, sketching loosely in her notebook. It had been years since they moved to the city, she knew, but she had never felt like she fit in here. She had asked to be home schooled more times than she could count, but her father had refused, saying that she needed to 'make friends'. Well, that was sure working out. Growing up on a farm, she wasn't exactly a master of social situations. Her best friends had been her parents and the chickens. And now she was sitting alone in the lunchroom, making her lack of friends horridly obvious. _

"_Mind if I sit here?"_

_April started, looking up to see a girl looming above her. She had short black hair in a bob hairstyle, and purple streaks ran through her hair. Her eyes were surrounded by large black glasses and purple lipstick adorned her lips. Her outfit was a crazy mismatch of clothes that she had somehow coordinated. _

"_Uh, go ahead," April said shyly. The girl sat down, putting her tray of food in front of her and flashing her a smile. _

"_Cool, thanks," she said, "I got kicked out of my table by my quote-unquote, "friends"." The girl rolled her lime-green eyes. "People can be such jerks, am I right?"_

"_Um…" April racked her brain for an answer, but the girl had already started talking again._

"_Hey, you're in my English class, aren't you?" the girl said, her face bright as she shoveled a mouthful of chicken rice into her mouth. "That last assignment was a nightmare!"_

"_Oh, I don't know, if you go back into the book and reread parts it isn't too hard," April said quietly, still surprised at how this girl could just sit down and start talking to her like they were already friends. She had never understood how people could just..._do _things like that._

"_Well you're obviously getting it more than I am then," she said, laughing. "You should totally help me out, cause I'm failing that class. Tomorrow after school?"_

"_Um, I…" April panicked for a moment. "I...sure." The words came out before she could even think. _

"_Great!" the girl said, pushing up her glasses. "My name's Irma." She held out her hand._

"_April. I'm April," April said, tentatively reaching out and shaking her hand. _

"_April. I like that name," she said, tilting her head. "Seriously though, you're a life saver. Science and math are my specialty, not all this writing and reading nonsense."_

"_Well then, maybe you can help me out there," April said, smiling. "I'm getting solid C's in those subjects."_

"_It's a symbiotic relationship then," Irma said. "See you then!" Before April could ask her what she was talking about, Irma had left. April watched her walk away and smiled slightly. Suddenly the prospect of friendship was seeming far less impossible._

...

April picked up the glasses, biting her lip. Why had she even taken them? She had turned out to be just another lie in her life. She shouldn't have any sort of sentiment for her. She flinched at the thought, knowing it was something Irma would have said. Practical, down-to-earth, nerdy Irma. Was she destined to lose everyone she cared about? She had lost her father three times now, her mother was gone, and now her best friend.

...

"_Ok, ok, my turn!" Irma said. The two girls sat in a bedroom with pastel purple walls. There was a twin bed with deep purple bedsheets and posters of obscure films and scientific charts covered the walls. The lamp was creating a dim light, and April and Irma sat in the center of the room. April was wearing yellow pajamas with little cats printed on them and Irma was wearing plaid pajama pants and a loose tee shirt. _

"_Ok, here goes; why is it hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs?" Irma said, her eyes bright._

"_..I don't know, why?" April asked eagerly._

"_They always take things literally!" Irma doubled over with laughter and April blinked, going through the joke in her mind for a moment before she too broke out into laughter._

"_Ohhhh, I get it!" she snorted, "Because kleptomaniac's are...oh my gosh!" The two broke out into renewed laughter, falling back onto the floor. The bedroom door cracked open and a frowning woman's face poked through._

"_Irma, April, do you know what time it is?" she said disapprovingly._

"_Sorry Mom," Irma said, choking down more laughter. "I was just telling April this really good joke about kleptomaniac's."_

"_Honestly, you take after your father way too much Irma," the woman said, rolling her eyes._

"_Aww mom, I take after you too," Irma said with a cocky grin. "Look at how fashionable I am!" She stood up and twirled around to demonstrate._

"_Sure..." the woman said. "Please, just keep in mind that your little brother is trying to sleep."_

"_Oh, fine," Irma pouted. After the woman left, she added. "Party pooper."_

"_Come'on, let's watch that movie you were telling me about," April said eagerly. "I'll get some popcorn." _

"_Ooh, which one do you want to watch?" Irma asked, her eyes lighting up. "Inception or The Matrix?"_

"_I don't know, whichever one is easier to understand," April laughed._

"_Hmmm….Inception is harder to follow, but I think you'll like it more," Irma said, pulling a movie off the shelf in her room. "So get the popcorn popping and prepare for the greatest sleepover ever!"_

…

April stared back at her friends. The silence hung thick in the air as the three younger brothers huddled together, Raph in the center and Mikey and Donnie on either side of him. An unconscious Leo rested peacefully on Raphael's lap, and all three of them had their arms wrapped around each other, their eyes closed as the foursome held onto each other and tried to keep what strength they had. How could her best friend, the girl she had gone to movies with, had all-nighter sleepovers, trusted with her secrets, been in part the cause for this?

…

_April rested her head in her hands. She was beyond exhausted; she was enervated. Oh, there was her Irma kicking in and making her use over-complicated terms again. April sighed, rubbing her forehead. It was just great, being the center of an alien conspiracy; now she had a madwoman from the Foot Clan hunting her down. What had Donnie said her name was? Karai, right._

"_Oh my gosh April!" Irma was over at her lunchtable in two seconds flat. Her light green eyes sparkled with concern. "What the heck happened to you?!" _Oh yes, the giant bruise on my cheek. How could I have forgotten. _April thought sarcastically to herself. _

"_I'm fine Irma," April sighed, not even daring to look her friend in the eye. "Just an accident."_

"_I swear, if those 'secret friends' of yours did this to you-" Irma began, her eyes blazing._

"_No no no!" April said with sudden vigor, her head snapping up. "It's not like that at all!"_

"_It'd better not," Irma said, her fists clenching. "Because I swear, I'll lock you up in my closet to stop you from seeing them if they lay a finger on you! And if they come looking for you, I'll give them a piece of me! They'd regret the day they were born!"_

"_Calm down Irma," April said. She didn't doubt that Irma would follow through on her promise. She was that kind of person, very overprotective and very willing to go to extremes. Although honestly, she'd be more concerned for Irma than the turtles if it came to a fight_.

"_I'll let it slide this time April," Irma said, her voice laced with anger. "But if you ever come to school again looking like this, I will take action!"_

"_I don't doubt it," April said with a weak smile. "But please, don't worry about me. I'm fine."_

"_April," Irma's tone had softened. "Of course I'm worried about you. We're best friends and you've never kept anything from me until now."_

"_Maybe...someday," April said, turning away. "I'm sorry Irma, but it's really complicated-"_

"_You know what April?" Irma said. April tensed up. Here it came, a Irma-sized blowup. She could only imagine how angry she was about to get. April closed her eyes and leaned back, preparing for the onslaught._

"_...it's fine," Irma sighed in defeat, putting her hand on April's. April looked up at her in surprise._

"_Wait...what?" April asked, genuinely confused. "Aren't you mad-?"_

"_Of course I am," Irma said with a frown. "But I'm not going to sacrifice our friendship for that. Of course I'm still pissed that you won't tell me, but you're my friend and that means more to me a silly argument."_

"_Irma…" April trailed off, her throat tightening and a smile quivering on her lips. "...thanks."_

"_Hey, no problem," Irma said, waving her hand casually. "That's what friends are for...But I'm not going to stop bugging you about it."_

…

Thinking back, April couldn't imagine that the friend who had understood her so well, that had stayed with her through the thick and thin, that had been the only person she could confide to, had been a trick and a lie. How could the Kraang have pulled off such a real person? How could they have given her character such depth, emotion, such personality? How had that screeching pink brain inside have been acting so well that she never suspected anything? April felt her eyes start to water as she looked at her reflection in the pair of glasses. She had taken them when they had left the lair on a whim, and now it was all she had left of the person she used to call friend.

_Maybe I should just get rid of it. Just forget about her. Pretend she never existed._

But she knew that she could never forget her. After all, could anyone simply forget their best friend? Before April could stop herself she found tears slipping down her cheek. No, she shouldn't be crying about this, she should be upset that her father was lost again, that Splinter was dead, that Leo was nearly dead; but instead she was crying about a mere friendship lost. Her hand clutched the glasses like if she held on tight enough the girl who wore them would come back.

"Hey, Red."

April looked up through her blurred vision. Casey had put his hand on her knee lightly. His expression was solemn.

"I know how close you were to that Irma girl," he said, pausing for a second as if considering his words. "You were best friends before I even knew you...so I guess...just...sorry." April bit her tongue, stuffing down more tears.

"Thanks Casey," she said in a cracked voice. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder and staring ahead at the road. The road was dark, and April felt a sense of despair. Her own road bore an awful similarity to the one she was staring at. It seemed that her path in life was destined to be shrouded in darkness. But as she stared ahead she could see the beginnings of a sunrise at the end of the asphalt path.

It was small, but it brought her a sudden sense of hope.


End file.
